I came home to my son, a very different person than the one I left nearly three weeks ago. I've left Archer for long periods of time before. A week here. Ten days there. But this time was different. Archer is talking, you guys. Like... talking-talking. Complete sentences.

"Mommy? You sing me song? You sing... Daisy?" was one of the first things he asked me. So I cradled him like a baby and we sang together and then when I was finished...

This went on for nearly an hour, us singing to each other until it was way too late for either of us to be awake.

Yesterday we slept the entire afternoon, wrapped up together like cats. We fell asleep mid-conversation about cookies and milk and whether or not Archer could have some after nap. It was one of my favorite afternoons on record. And when we woke up, hours later? We ate cookies and "moop" which is "very yummy snack, Mommy."

I mean... really. Who is this person and what have you done with Archer?

This morning I woke up to my name being called from Archer's room. And then:

"Hi, Mommy. Look! This is my train. And this is my book and I want socks. Deez feet are cold."

My head is seriously spinning. I left a child who mainly pointed and spoke in one word sentences and I've come back to... a full-on talking collegiate. A man! Like, whoa.

A long time coming, for sure and his speech isn't perfect by any means but he is kicking ass with his sentences and in the last two days since I've been home, he has been able to articulate 100% what he wants, doesn't want and how he feels. This is a crazy kind of progress, people.

Totally unexpected and exciting. I feel like we've entered a whole new world of jibba-jabba awesomeness.

It's SO cool when that happens and suddenly they can totally communicate like people.

and I get woken by calls of "Moooooooooommy!" from Pumpkinpie's room, too. That's alwyas been her way, so on the rare occasion when she gets up out of bed and I wake to the sound of her door opening instead, it startles me.

Kate in CT
| 8:37 AM

That is so awesome. It's like they break through a barrier and the words just come flooding out. Pronounciation will come, but it is so great he is expressing himself. This reminds me again I need to speak with the speech therapist my four-year-old works with at pre-K (only once a week unfortunately) and see what I should be working on with her over the summer!!

Congratulations! There is something poetic to you taking to the road for your book on being Archer's mommy, promoting how that little boy inspired you to write and then coming home to that little man now speaking not just words but sentences. Mazel Tov!

And you should be proud. The explosion, when it hits, is amazing. You can finally get to the crux of problems, you can understand what their minds are forming, you can answer their needs.

Unfortunately, explosion isn't really the right word, since explosions have a tendency to be sudden, and then disappear. Neverending torrent of words would be more accurate. I was excited too, for the first few months... then I realized she was never going to be silent again.

Yay!! That is awesome! I know I am amazed just seeing the new vocabulary Jack adds every day. I can only imagine what it would be like to be separated for a few weeks and come back to a fully conversational kid!

Gabbers
| 11:00 AM

I was planning on telling you how my best friend didn't speak a word until she was almost five, since her (less that 1 year) older sister would always do the talking for her. Then, just like magic, after a weekend at her grandparents, she came home speaking non-stop. Well, I'm glad this happened to you and Archer too!

That is totally mindblowingly awesome. Way to go Arch (and what a cool homecoming present). When B started doing that recently, my mind exploded. We have conversations now - real ones, f**k it's awesome.

Yum, Yummy. The swear words and sex questions will follow soon. I kid, I kid. I said to all my babies when they were born and it was just me and them, "what will you say to me?" I really.had.no.idea what it would eventually be and that is the real miracle of the thing.

Just got your book from Amazon! I'm going to sit down and read it tonight, I'm so psyched! Reading some stuff I was all "wait, commitment phobic, odd job doing wild girl..is this me?" Keep up the good work!

Okay, so this is the first time I've ever come to your site (linked from HerBadMother), and you've had me crying only with 3 posts read...

My grandmother used to sing "Daisy Bell" to me all the time. I can remember being out in their backyard, my grandmother singing happily as she hung the laundry outside to dry while my grandfather sat in a lawn chair, reading the paper and whistling along with her.

Thank you for brining that memory back for me.

mfk
| 6:08 PM

YAYYYY! That is so exciting. and I also love "deez feet"....

Anonymous
| 11:13 PM

wow- how did i miss this one??? awesome news!!! so excited for you!! and jumping back (or ahead) to the potty training- yay as well!! my girl was potty trained at 18 months because i am the best mom ever (or so i thought) but my son would not be pushed and decided all on his own, much like archer, that he'd go when he was ready. and he did. right before he turned three. one day he decided he would use the potty and he never turned back. that's when i realized it had nothing to do with me being really good at potty training and everything to do with when the kids were ready. glad archer is ready :) ~jjlibra

Welcome home!It never fails that when I'm away from my Miss CC, I arrive home to her seeming so much more mature (and taller). It's just how it is. What a lovely gift from Archer! So Daddy did okay while you were gone, no?

How amazing is that? After I started reading your blog, I was minorly freaked. Because my son was babbling incoherently - and still is (but it's getting a bit better). He just turned two - but I was still worried.

So I went searching and found DrGreene.com. He has a fantastic write up about speech - I'm sure you've been there. But this is what he said would happen - that no matter what the age - at some point it just comes. And poof! There it is.

And read your other post - I think you should definitely move to Portland asap.

Oh, that's awesome! This whole time you've been writing about Archer's speech delay I've been wanting to tell you this story about this friend of mine who didn't talk until he was four and then just immediately started talking in full sentences, and is now getting his PhD in mathematics and talks and writes just as well as and other graduate student. But then I would think, wait, she's probably heard like fifty versions of that story anyway.

(Unless I DID tell you that story, and have just forgotten. Which I might have. But either way, I am now convinced Archer is headed for a PhD.)

shannon
| 1:28 AM

congrats to archer! didn't i tell you it would come, and then it wouldn't stop?? =) so awesome. and it was great to meet you in pdx!